49 containers were detained, and Southeast Asian customs launched a new round of strict investigation storm
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Recently, customs law enforcement in many Southeast Asian countries has been significantly strengthened, and Malaysia and the Philippines have successively disclosed major seizure cases. Both cases involved container cargo that evaded supervision through false declarations. The amounts involved were huge, reflecting that regional customs supervision is upgrading from single-point inspection to full-chain risk control.
Malaysia: 14 containers of "agricultural products" are actually frozen chicken, and the other 12 containers are still being traced
The Malaysian Border Control and Protection Agency (AKPS) recently seized a batch of imported frozen food suspected of false declarations at Sepanggar Port, Sabah. When law enforcement officers opened and inspected 14 containers, they found that the customs declaration documents were marked as "potatoes" and "peas", but they were actually loaded with frozen chicken, with a total weight of more than 400 tons and a market valuation of approximately 2.42 million ringgit.
The operation was jointly implemented by AKPS in conjunction with customs, health departments, veterinary institutions and port management units. The investigation showed that the goods had been packaged and planned to be sold in the local market. The declared route was seriously inconsistent with the actual goods. The frozen chicken involved in the case is suspected to come from mainland China and Hong Kong, China, but some packages are marked with information about the origin of Thailand or Malaysia, and are accompanied by sales signs for the local market. Since Sabah has restrictions on the import of frozen food from specific origins, in addition to being suspected of false declarations, this case may also violate animal quarantine and food import management regulations.
Law enforcement agencies also targeted 12 other suspicious containers, suspecting that they were declared using the same model, involving about 348 tons of frozen chicken. The above-mentioned containers have been included in the scope of key surveillance, and the case is still under further investigation.
Philippines: 23 containers of smuggled cigarettes were intercepted and the cargo ship involved was impounded
The Philippine Customs Service recently reported that during a joint inter-agency anti-smuggling operation, law enforcement agencies seized 23 containers containing illegal cigarettes and seized the cargo ship "ASC BIG BOY" involved. The operation was jointly carried out by Customs, the National Bureau of Investigation, the Taxation Bureau and the Coast Guard. Law enforcement officers conducted simultaneous inspections in private docks, cargo ships and storage facilities, and finally controlled 23 of the target containers, and another one is still being traced.
Verification by the tax department showed that the seized goods contained approximately 29,900 boxes of cigarettes, none of which had paid taxes and posted tax stamps as required. The estimated value of the goods was approximately 1.7 billion Philippine pesos (equivalent to approximately RMB 188 million). The investigation found that the goods were declared as ordinary consumer goods during transportation and were transshipped through domestic ports in the Philippines. Although officials have not confirmed the source of the goods, local media quoted customs officials as saying that the cigarettes involved may be related to supply chains in China and the Middle East. The Philippine Customs has made it clear that all seized goods will be confiscated in accordance with the law and destroyed in accordance with regulations, and will not enter the market.
Regulation at the destination port is becoming stricter, and compliance declaration has become a key risk point for cross-border logistics.
From frozen food to cigarette products, from port inspection to cross-department joint law enforcement, both cases showed the common feature of "serious discrepancy between the declared information and the actual goods."
As the customs information sharing mechanisms and risk control capabilities of Southeast Asian countries continue to upgrade, the focus of supervision is extending from front-end customs clearance to back-end penetrating verification, involving the authenticity and consistency of declaration links such as product name, origin, tariff classification, and import license, and is becoming a focus of law enforcement inspections.
For freight forwarders, customs brokers and cargo owner companies, once false declarations, concealed declarations and under-declarations are identified, they may not only face cargo seizure, fines and criminal liability, but also may have damaged credit records, affecting subsequent compliance operations of the supply chain.
